Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Some highlights from Collectors Universe's investor conference call. Collectors Universe owns PSA, the leading grading card service in the hobby.

Our other grading authentication businesses, being trading cards and autographs and stamps, faced more challenging trading conditions due to the continued economic recession. Our trading cards and autographs business experienced a 9% decline in revenues in both the second quarter and six months compared to the comparable quarters of the prior year.

Most of the call focused on the other aspect of Collectors Universe's business, it's coin authentication arm. I remember when their stock was around the $2.00 mark, but in July they bought back 1.7 million shares @ $5.00 - 5.40 a share. Then they instituted a quarterly dividend of 0.25 cents a share. Those two moves have pushed the stock over $9.00, where it sits today.